The Consequences of Our Actions
by Magician'sValkyria1208
Summary: Sparda's family ties have some interesting revelations for everyone involved with the DMC agency. An exorcist steps in to pull some demonic force out of the family. It'll kill some, and save others, like Dante. anime-verse. No Yaoi. OCs.
1. Chapter 1

**The Consequences of Our Actions.**

PG13 for language and violence. This is Anime/Manga-verse with crossover Nero from DMC4, will be entirely set/influenced from the animated series though. If you find the layout confusing, this is third person omniscient with Dante's POV in italics. Internal thoughts do not have quotations, and all conversations will be quoted as usual. Lady's POV will come in for a chapter or two later. Maybe even Nero's POV will matter at some point. Enjoy the story!

Dante/OC/OnesidedLady  
Nero/Kyrie  
Vergil/Unknown  
Lady/OC  
**No Yaoi  
**Warnings : Character death in later chapters. Obvious supernatural and religious themes. Dont like? Dont Care. Dont Read.

Disclaimer that disclaims my rights to Devil May Cry. I do not own anything related to DMC.

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Ringing. Lots of phone ringing. Why was the damn phone ringing so much? Who did they think they were calling…?

_Oh shit. Its Monday morning isn't it? Damn. Everything._

Dante rolled off the couch, hobbling towards his desk to answer the phone.

_"Devil May Cry…"_

The agency's number was published now in the local directory, thanks to Morrison and Lady. That woman was hanging out around the office excessively now, constantly bitching about Dante's debts to her. She had been clingy. Annoying, really.

_"Yeah, I prefer dealing with those supernatural bastards in person. Who are they following? Can I just send Nero? I'm pretty Rebellion is even pissed off at all the wimp-ass demons it's sliced into lately."_

……………

_"Right. Sure thing. Whatever."_

So Dante slammed the phone back down and propped his legs up on the desk. He folded half of an old magazine into a plane and took aim at a sleeping Nero on the other side of the room.

_Kid…maybe he'll respect me a little bit after I end up saving his ass again. For now, he can run a job errand for me. Aim….fire!_

The plane glided right into Nero's nose, leaving the younger Sparda relative to jump from his sleep on the loveseat. He had been curled up in a ball, shielding his arm in his jacket.

"Dannntteeeeee……" was the sleepy mumble that hailed from his lips. Annoying.

_"I don't apologize at the moment. Go find a shirt and get the hell to Morrison's office. He's got a job for you. I don't particularly feel like killing a bunch of low-tiers today."_

"Bastard. Care to lend me another pistol? I'm going…dammit." Nero stood up to stretch. He had been mentoring under Dante for a few months now. Fortuna wasn't so accepting of his demonic heritage as the Devil May Cry agency. He missed Kyrie, and wrote her letters on a pretty regular basis, but she understood his need to train his powers into a better control. Dante was ultimately a good guy, and would look out for the kid, even if he came off as an asshole to her (and everyone else).

Dante dug into the desk drawer, to pull out an empty .45 and slid it across the floor to Nero. "_There's ammo around her somewhere. Grab some and go. I'll cut the pay with you this time if you get the job right. "_

So the young Nero followed his brotherly figure's orders. Dante reclined with a half hearted smile on his face. Today he wouldn't have to be reminded of the hell that was usually his day to day life.

_Once that kid gets good enough, I can turn him loose. Send him back to that damned freakish Fortuna fairy land. I'll just hang out. Just keep my pizza tab going. Get Lady to leave me the hell alone. Patty should come by and clean up the office sometime to….damn. Why am I making to do lists like an old man?_

For the first time in a while, Dante contemplated what it really meant to be Sparda's son. What it really meant to be half-breed demon. He was creeping up on being forty in human years. His aging process was slowing considerably. Looking 26 years old for an enternity couldn't be a downfall though.

This whole immortality thing was either going to suck ass, or leave a lot of time for strawberry sundaes and special order pizzas.

_This does leave a long ass time to eradicate some hell scum. Rebellion will last that long. I'll have to polish the guns though. Find someone to keep cleaning this place up. Wait….God. Who the hell is going to clean this place up if Patty is gone? Nero? _

_Screw. That. _

The reality that everyone around him was going to keep getting older and move on, or just simply die…was an interesting revelation for Dante.

After wandering to the kitchen and tipping a familiar glass bottle to his lips, he contemplated the thought.

_I don't know…what the hell. I'm always going to be the demon hunter. I guess I'm always going to own this place. Suppose I'll always be alone, to. _

He took a long swig, and shattered the bottle in his palm as a loud crash in the foyer seemed to ruin his sentimental moment with himself.

"DANTE"…. In a loud, growling demonic voice was the only clue to who was waiting in the other room. This bastard wasn't going to get Dante though. He was going to get Ebony's barrel through his skull.

_What? These goons make house calls now? Damn….everything….again. This shit hasn't happened in a long time. Bastard better tell me why he's here in the first place before I show him the fucking door back to hell. _

Nero wasn't going to be back anytime soon. Nobody was going to bother to know about the demonic house call until Patty, Lady or Trish came knocking and found the bloodstains on the walls…and they sure as hell weren't going to like cleaning that up.

The demon fisted holes into the walls of the office, raging as he caught a glimpse of silver hair on the other side of the doorway.

".BASTARD!" Two well aimed shots through the skull took him out, and he began to melt into the floor. That should have taken care of the problem, right?

_"The hell…"_

For there to be no demon in the room, a burning sensation of demonic presence overwhelmed Dante's senses. He felt the burning behind his eyes. Through his fingers. There had to be a multitude of demons here….were they possessing the place itself?

_Shit….damn…..what….what do I….._

The Ebony pistol fell from his hand, and for once, the demon slayer Dante was overpowered by the intense presence, and the evoking of the demonic powers in himself. He tried making himself walk, but couldn't even stand…and the last thing he remembered was hearing his door get kicked in and a woman yell in some foreign language. Then Dante took another nap, unwillingly…passed out in the floor

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**One Review = New Reading Material**. Will stand from here on out. Flames are used to roast marshmallows.

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	2. Chapter 2

**For all intents and purposes**, go look up a picture of a Ctarl-Ctarl from the Outlaw Star series. Or research them. They inspired me to write Cade, a character I've had a literary love-affair with for a long time. I hope Noire is enjoyable to read, as she is to play out in my head. Enjoy.

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Nero had dragged him back onto his couch. It was kind of soft beneath him, he was partially conscience.

A loud knock on the door was what really stirred Dante from sleeping.

Sitting up, he saw Patty open the door for the two strangers; a tall hooded figure and a petite female.

"Damn. Anyone think to call a pizza for me? Waking up only to be knocked out again by ominous blob demon isn't very appetizing..."

The hooded figure shut the door behind him and pulled off his jacket. He was Dante's height; mocha skinned and had some distinctly…unique features. The smaller woman took his jacket from him and smiled in the other's direction. The small group couldn't really pull their eyes away from her companion. He had elongated feline-esq ears and a strange shade of golden yellow for eyes.

"You all should be safe for now; they don't seem to be hanging out outside. Did Dante ever wake up?" The white haired half-demon answered to his name with a threatening stare. The small woman took a seat near his couch.

"He's fine. Even complaining about pizza already. Do either one of you care for drinks?" Trish began raiding Dante's refrigerator, offering a beer to the strange-looking half-whatever he was. Was he half-cat something?

"Anybody mind filling me on what the hell just attacked my office? What the hell are all of you doing here? Is there a problem I need to know about_!?"_

Nero shrugged his shoulders at the irritated, hungry Dante.

"I don't know what happened to you bro. Lady found you passed out in the floor. Noire had been sitting over you with a crucifix keeping some lesser demons from trying to possess you."

Dante looked skeptical. She had been named Noire, and she approached him and cupped her hands around his face. She inspected him carefully, brushing his hair out of his eyes and giving him a through look over.

"Why the hell are you here? I'm guessing you're the oddball that I heard yelling before I took a nap_."_

She didn't even blink at his rudeness. She looked over his neck and hands, and nodded to Trish.

"You're lucky, asshole. You had a whole legion of minor demons trying to strangle you. She happened to run in when they followed that blob into the agency."

Dante shrugged his shoulders and stood up, towering over the small woman. He ignored Trish's prior statement, choosing to treat his guests with slight hostile manner.

"Care to tell me who you are yet_?"_

The neko looking male finished his drink and approached the two.

"Noire is a human exorcist. She and I have been trailing groups of demons into this town for a few days. They came straight here, obviously looking for you. Dante, is that your name?"

"I don't know why a human exorcist came here then. You won't be much help to all of us. Lady and Patty are the only ones…_"_

"The only humans. I'm aware." Noire sat back observantly and spoke. She had a simple white skirt and black blouse on. She had a rosary tattooed around her ankle, and there was a noticeable scar in the shape of a cross on her collar bone.

"_Then _you must realize there's not any business here for you_."_

"There is no business in this. I live this way. I could feel an intense presence from this town, demonic presence on demonic presence. I followed it, and it lead me here, where I found a legion of lesser demons trying to possess you. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me, I knew demons were selfish. What are they, jealous that you're prettier than they are?"

Dante tensed his shoulders and was silent for a minute.

"The demons and I don't collaborate too often. If you didn't notice from that lovely house call earlier, they don't like me too much, and I like them better with bullet holes_."_

"So demon hunting demon, is that it?" She turned around and looked at Trish and Nero, who both radiated demonic energy. "The clergy would love that. I don't know if they would enlist your help or try to kill you."

Noire clicked her heels a couple of times, with her strange bodyguard handing her a cigarette in response. Dante sat back down on his couch, and offered a seat to the bodyguard.

"I'm Cade, by the way. I'm a half-breed. A humanoid alien, since you had to be wondering. I've been friends with Noire for a couple years now, and I've been traveling with her since she left the church."

"Half-breed eh? That makes a few of us. My father told me the humans weren't alone here. You must be one of those lycanthropic cats_?"_

Cade nodded. "I don't have any lycan abilities though. My mother did, she was the one from that culture. My father was a human, so everything but these weird ass ears and some muscle mass fell through the cracks when I was born. You're half-bred to? You must only be half-demon. Don't know how that happens, but I'll roll with it."

He lit up a cigarette himself, taking a light from Noire, who had slipped a lighter from her sleeve. Nero settled into an Indian-style position on the floor, almost afraid that the 'holy woman' would burn if she touched him.

"I don't know what good it does for you to stay here. I don't need your help to do my job. I've already got Lady and Trish to make it even more of an annoyance."

Noire pinched off her cigarette, tossing it in the trashcan next to her. Dante made a strange expression at her, and it looked like one of distaste.

"You're a half demon. I'm going to guess by a long shot that you and this white haired kid next to me are related to the demon Sparda? You're both identical to him in all of those portraits of him in this town. That must be why you hunt them. Your father did to."

Nero looked a little uncomfortable, and kept his hands tucked into his jacket. Trish smirked and played with her hair as she spoke.

"Sparda had two sons you know, a set of twins. Vergil and Dante. We know that Nero is their relation somehow, how exactly, we haven't figured out yet."

Nero had never heard the name of Dante's brother. Nor did he know that they were twins. The name Vergil struck a chord with him, even if he didn't know why. The Order had completely ignored the fact that Sparda gave up all of his powers to die as a man, and denied that he had ever had a human family.

"Hmm. Sparda had two sons. I never was brave enough to ask if it was true. You look just like him." She smiled a little to herself and made eye contact with him.

Dante blinked and there was an awkward silence while the exorcist and half demon tried to read each other's thoughts through their eyes.

"How long do you plan on hanging out? You're going to run off all our business if the demons get word that you're here. Dante's got to pay his bills somehow. He doesn't need you, little lady." Lady had distaste in her voice for this woman. Cade eyed her suspiciously, she was a human with strong spiritual energy, but she wasn't exceptional. Not like Noire was.

"They won't go out of their way to run from me. I'm just a human. You have heard of exorcists that were half angel, who drive demons away with words. I fight them, tooth and nail. Holy daggers and blessed crucifixes, old school….the whole nine yards. Even demons respect me and you better damn well to, little girl."  
The female exorcist gave an intimidating stare, and Dante cracked his knuckles while listening to her. Lady was offended, and she sat down between Cade and Dante and crossed her legs with an attitude.

"Your crucifix won't stop bites from giant demons. My Kaliana Ann does more damage that you ever could with your bare hands in a lifetime, _virgin."_

Lady laughed, and opened her eyes at the sound of a loud click, with Noire's 9mm Colt in her face. It was heavily scratched with prayer beads tied around it. Cade had moved instantaneously to hold her back, his arm crossing hers to tell her to put the weapon down.

"It may not be a paid job bitch, but it's a purpose. One that the good Lord didn't deem you very fit for. I answered my call, and God himself will have to interfere if you decide to get in the way."

Dante had an unreadable expression on his face. He could have despised this woman or loved her, and there was no way to tell.

Two days passed…and Devil May Cry hadn't received a single phone call. Nero had begun to wonder if this woman really had scared off the devils. She was some strange interpretation of a holy woman. She cursed, smoked cigarettes and carried a gun. Cade was much more intimidating than she was…or at least he should be. Nero had gotten to know the half-breed alien, who said he was some race called Ctarls, and found him to be a fairly laid back guy. He was easy to get a long with, and Nero enjoyed the company of a new friend who didn't seem so judgmental. Noire…well. Someone so small shouldn't be so intimidating.

They didn't have wait long for the new round of foes to find their way to the neighborhood though.

"Arrrggh…damn!" Dante's coat swayed behind him as he drew Ivory and started out the door on foot. Half of the windows in the building were blown out suddenly. Nero and Trish followed, without them telling the guests to come or not.

"I don't recognize whatever the hell that thing is." Nero's surprise interjected as the group stopped to face the presence around the street corner.

"That's….a hell spawn, and a dead human." The demon was gnawing on the shoulder of a middle aged man. Dante aimed for the head, but Trish beat him to the punch.

Three rapid shots.

The demon hadn't gone down. It was antagonized now, and lunged for Nero. Dante fired a few more into its back. The younger Sparda relative took his sword to cut into a limb, and found himself in a lock with the growling creature.

"Perhaps, it's best if someone lets me know when hell's angels come-a-knocking." Noire had stalked up behind Dante, putting her cigarette out on the brick wall next to her. She pulled a knife with a white blade from under her belt and ran towards the sparring demons. Nero was attempting to reach for his gun without being decapitated and gained an opportunity when Noire implanted the blade into the demonic creature's neck. The thing screeched inhumanly, and began morphing into something unrecognizable.

"Huh, my friend seems to be a bit more challenging today. Amazing. I love that the one fun job is one I won't get paid for. Shiiiit." The elder Sparda stepped in with both guns drawn.

The demon had taken on a different form, transformed itself into some violent black shadow, like the demons that attacked Dante, and turned on the nearest target. Trish hadn't charged a bolt of lightening fast enough, and it bit into her.

"FUCK THIS." Dante had seen enough, and started firing. The shadow anticipated, and absorbed the shots, allowing Trish to absorb them with her human form.

Blood splattered everywhere.

That's when both Spardas went in swinging.

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**Still stands :** **One review of the writing...and new reading material will be produced**. - RayneLestare07 (Pardon my cheesy author's account name)


	3. Chapter 3

Failure. The most unintentional, cosequential failure Dante Sparda would probably ever know.

They were only supposed to dispose of a low-tier demon, and instead got lead into what seemed like a trap.

It worked. It shouldn't have worked. Now there was a pile of bubbling demon goo on the ground, but it had already enveloped Trish and taken her with it back to hell.

Her homunculus body was dissolving on the very sidewalk, with the two Sparda relatives in absolute shock. Rebellion fell from Dante's hands, and Nero was already on his knees, unbelieving that they had just killed a team-member.

"It seems that our Lord waits for no one, and yet she wasn't even human. A doll of neither human nor demon." So the exorcist offered words, but Dante ignored her.

"Trish...she told me that Mundus made her a doll of Dante's mom. She was made out of another woman's soul."

Noire pulled the elastic out of her dark hair and kneeled to the ground to pray, rosary wrapped around her wrist.

" I suppose it was finally time for the soul of that woman to be released from this place. Homunculus dolls grow weaker the longer they are kept here, the longer they are kept away from their bodies or eternal rest. It was time."

Dante watched the thin framed woman close her eyes and speak psalms of prayer in the church's tongue of Latin. He was seething in anger, remembering why he was even here to begin with. He was a mercenary. A devil-hunter. Revenge for killing Eva, killing her twice now.

He picked up and slid Rebellion back into the strap on his back, and walked away with no words. Nero had given up the ghost, his coat lay on the ground and the Devil Bringer glowing for the guests of Devil May Cry to see. Noire spoke Amen to the sky and left the sign of the cross before getting up and following Dante.

"Come on now, younger Sparda. I think your friend will need you." She never looked at Nero, but knew that he would acknowledge her advice.

So Noire and Nero followed Dante into the office, the female mercernary and alien bodyguard waiting for them. The lack of expressions on their companion's faces was enough to warn them that something had not gone according to plan.

"Dante, what happened? Did you let the demon...Where did Trish go?"

Nero stopped and covered his face.

"We lost her... the devil got to her first...I'd never seen anything like that bastard....it...ate her almost...it melted her." He allowed himself to be visibly upset, just as Dante did. He didnt bother hiding his arm, or the tears. Trish had gone out of her way to watch him during the issues with Sanctus, she had been like an older sister to the orphaned demon boy.

Lady and Cade comforted Nero for a few minutes. Dante paced around his desk...contemplating whatever it was that he was pouring over in his head. Noire sat in the recliner, cigarette in hand, watching the scene unfold. This was only day four of being associated with Devil May Cry, and it had already become too deep to back out of.

She had heard the rumors about the sons of Sparda. She had questioned Sparda himself about it several years prior, and yet while searching for her own answers she recieved others. Now she was going to have to help Dante Sparda solve his own problems.

"That lying BITCH!" Dante kicked the desk and ran upstairs to the storage room and mini-library where the girls would keep their belongings. Trish had left a stack of notes here, from her infiltration as Gloria. She had threatened Dante to leave them alone. They applied to her business, not his. Now there really wasn't anything to stop him, was there?

This was a mild form of betrayal. It made it worse that he had just witnessed her death, but answers mattered more now. Dante rummaged through the notes, stopping at particularly secretive one regarding Nero.

"She's implying the impossible. She thinks that Vergil or I have to be his father."

The following notes implied exactly that, and that there was no physical way to know unless one of the brothers was present for a paternity test. How funny.

" It's too bad my brother is sealed away in some pool of hell and it's impossible.....improbable....it just can't even be remotely plausable that he's the kid's father."

" Are you sure about that? You've spoken like you haven't had any contact with your brother to believe such."

Dante crumbled the paper in his hand, and he could see Noire in the corner of his eye, leaning against the doorframe. His anger was irrevocable at this point, and he reflexed the only way he knew how...by aiming Ivory at her.

"For some reason, things have only gotten worse since you came along. Why don't you try to help someone who needs it?" And so Noire was pleasantly surprised to know that she had met her match in sarcasm.

"Because it seems like by meeting you I get a little closer to finding my own answers, half-devil. I have given a damn, you know. I give a damn right now, even if your anger and confusion is blinding you from doing so. You're going through some crazy shit. You feel betrayed, is that it?"

"Fuck you."

"If only you would answer me that directly half the time."

Dante cocked the trigger on the pistol, but as a few tears began to well up in his icy blue orbs, he felt cold metal against the back of his skull.

" I kill devils to, Dante Sparda. I've always been taught to believe that devils can't defy devils. You're lucky I don't think that way myself."

Now if there was anything to hate this woman for, it was that somehow she rivaled the son of Sparda in being crazy enough to attempt shit, like letting the barrel of her pistol meet the back of Dante's head. For that, Dante suddenly respected her a bit, with the utmost distate for her.

"Think back about your brother and pull yourself together. We'll be waiting for you downstairs."

The insumptuous woman who would have been a nun, turned on heel and gracefully descended the stairs behind Dante. He dropped his gun, wiping the beginnings of tears from his eyes. Too bad Dante was above crying for doll, and he would react the way he did every time he lost someone. Killing demons was his coping method, and it would be especially enjoyable this time.

_"Whatever the hell is trying to get under my skin is doing a damn good job...I'll have to give them a good show. I owe it to Trish."_

He brushed the dust off, tossing the papers into the garbage. So Nero was his nephew? That was news. The kid was a carbon copy of the male Spardas, so it shouldn't have surprised him too much.

"but Vergil? Cold-stone-ass Vergil......damn, and here I thought that we weren't fit to have any kids. Guess the bastard proved me wrong."

By the time Dante had followed Noire downstairs, Nero was running his hands through his hair looking confused about what to do next. Lady was still a little hysterical. The alien bodyguard eyed Dante with a little bit of curiousity. Noire was twirling her pistol as though it were time to go out on a manhunt.

"What? Not going to go and find out what the hell just happened? I didnt expect to wait on you so long Dante_."_

The white haired half-demon brushed his hair back and holstered his two guns.

" Sure. Let's just roll right on out of here. No time to waste, eh? I should grab some pizza on the way out." He turned around to reach for Rebellion, and found Nero already holding it. The sword was beginning to awaken, it was reacting to Nero's blood just as it did with Dante's.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, kid. We don't need you getting into too much trouble. Your old man wouldn't like that."

"The hell are you talking about Dante?" Nero was taken aback, his hand immediately letting go of Rebellion as the other half demon caught it and sheathed it to his back.

"I'll...tell you later. Just shut up and listen to me." He popped the younger Sparda on the nose, illiciting a reflexive punch from him.

"Dante, you're an asshole. You know that. Why the hell is a half demon bringing an exorcist to the fight? Her gun isn't even as useful as Lady's." Nero spat off at the mouth as though Noire wasn't standing there. He got a decent crack to the skull with the barrel of her pistol as a response. The Devil May Cry owner shrugged his shoulders.

"Bring an exorcist to a demon's fight.....sounds like unfair play to me. Exactly what I go for. Cade's a pretty cool guy to, don't want to leave him out do we?"

Dante walked off casually, as though the current day's events had never happened. Into the sunset, to find out who wanted to possess him so badly that they had to start fucking with his teammates. He hid it well, but his hands were balled into tight fists, and if he hadn't been wearing gloves his palms would be bleeding.

His father was right, demons really were the scum of the universe.


	4. Chapter 4

The bloodshed had only begun, and against his instinct, Dante listened to the team when they told him not to rush in over his head. If they walked right into the first trap and lost a team member, then it was likely that there was much worse waiting out there for them.

Noire had advised the Sparda boys to stay as undercover as possible. It had taken some convincing to get Dante out of his bright red leather, and Nero could only think to hide his arm in the sling he kept. A plan was slowly being formulated, there wasn't a solid aura to follow yet.

"Do you do that on purpose, Demon? Or can you not control your powers enough yet to disguise it?" Noire had gently taken the Devil Bringer between her palms and gave the younger boy a particularly condescending look. He was cringing, as if she was going to burn him or rip his arm off.

"I've been this way for as long as I've been alive. It's the only way I can focus my energy to fight when I need to. You think I like walking around like a freak or keeping my arm in a sling forever? It's a fucking eyesore, and I can't even hold the woman I care about."

She raised an eyebrow to him and Cade sighed heavily.

"Don't get so defensive kid. I know how it feels to be a freak, believe me. You worked for Sanctus didn't you? At least being part devil wouldn't have gotten you killed." The usually quiet bodyguard put a hand on Nero's shoulder and tried to calm him.

"If you can stop freaking out, Nero. I will try to do something for you, and see if it will help. Stay still and trust me for a minute."

He nodded and cringed again as she gently ran her fingers over the rough scales and sang fluently in the church's tongue. Her voice was soft, and Dante stepped out of his office to see the frustrating woman working her 'magic'. He had dealt with holy magic before, but not being able to use it for all practical purposes, being half of a demon, he never thought about it.

Nero felt a dull burn in his right arm, not knowing what this insanity was doing to him. She held his hand and ran her right hand from his wrist to his elbow, and repeated this for almost a full minute before the scales and horns started to fall to the ground and disintegrate into dust. Nero freaked out and tried to jerk away, but Cade held him still. Nero was outmatched by the young man of same height and build with supernatural strength.

Noire sang until Nero's the surface of Nero's right arm had broken away, leaving human skin beneath it. When she rubbed away the last of the dark scales, an almost normal arm rested beneath it. His veins were dark and red marks ran down his arm where the mass of demonic presence had been. There was a faint blue glow in his palm. Noire kissed the back of his hand and let him go.

Dante had found himself running towards Nero and observing the work the exorcist had just done. What kind of damage could this cause?

"There was a seperate entity using his arm a host that caused the deformity. I siezed it and it fled back to the otherside."

Nero's cringe and scowl had turned into an awed smile, and Cade finally let him go. He needed to get used to the feeling of having a working hand again. He had a wrist that could move in a full circle, and long slender fingers that could allow him to grasp a two-handed sword.

"He used that as a focus to trigger when he needed to, you probably just took away his powers!" Dante wasn't so optimistic for the younger Sparda, and got in Noire's face. She didnt respond but placed a hand on his cheeks, where a sudden burn caused Dante to jerk back.

"He's still a demon, Dante. He's not a half-breed like you. He will have to learn to use his powers without the manifestation in his arm, but you can help your own nephew with that, can't you?"

They stared off, annoyance radiating between them. Nero was flexing the muscles in his arm and pulled out his own sword, warming up the wrists he had never been able to move before.

Noire tossed a strand of beads to Dante, who caught them without taking his eyes off of her. She turned to walk in the other direction by herself.

"You know Dante, you still stand out in the crowd. I guess silver hair will never be too low key." He had buttoned up his shirt and reduced the red leather to a vest that sharply contrasted his onyx black undershirt and pants. The beads she had tossed him were old, partially petrified and the tiny inscriptions were unreadable. He could only suspect that Noire knew more about the enemy than she cared to divulge.

There was a lot this crazy bitch wasn't telling him. Like why this holy relic she had just tossed him was eminating a horribly dark aura in places. Something truly evil could taint something so pure.

Dante stuffed the beads into a small pocket in his shirt and sat in the shadows of his office, waiting for this woman to give them a lead.  
Cade had pinned his ears down and hidden them beneath his hair. He procured a vial of colored contacts to 'correct' his cat's eye shaped iris. A military cap later, and you would never have been able to tell the young man wasn't perfectly human. Noire emerged from her wandering an hour or so later, having exchanged the white skirt for pants and rolled up her sleeves to reveal patches of scars from her elbows to her fingers. Her dagger was slipped through a torn piece of leather in tall, strapped cage heels that she had laced her feet into.

She gave Dante no words but slipped her pistol into the waistband of her pants behind her back. A snap of several auras struck everyone in the party save for Lady, who was inempt at manipulating or reading energy.

"That's one we're looking for." Noire stared off in no particular direction as though she were staring down an enemy.

Dante gritted his teeth and clenched a finger around Ebony. "One of them is my brother."

Nero looked around nervously with a harsh realization.  
"...And one of them is incredibly strong, and I don't think he's our neighbor."

Noire and Cade stopped to pray before they quickly followed the demonic aura halfway down the road. Dante picked up the guitar case that carried his beloved Rebellion and motioned for Nero and Lady to follow them. The sun was going down, and as auras pulsed, the group split. Dante followed his brother's aura with Lady at his heels.

"You trust that bitch too much, Dante. That incident at the agency only happened right before she showed her face."

"And we don't know what happened, do we? Someone, -something- knows they can't beat me. So they're going to try and fuck with my brain and force me to their side? There's not many angels or demons alike that can do that. This is serious shit, Lady. So focus on the problem at hand and not some bitch that's prettier than you."

"Are you fucking kidding me Dante? You're such an asshole, why the fuck am I even trying to help!-"

A gunshot silenced her, the bullet whizzing past her ear and barely missing a shadow that was scaling the wall behind them. Lady didn't hesitate to run after it, loading up her massive weapon to take down whatever it was. It jumped from wall to wall, avoiding her with ease while the devil hunter stood by and watched. He went the other direction without so much as a pistol drawn anymore.

"YOU BASTARD-!" A loud explosion later, and Lady stopped in her tracks, having missed the target, the last thing in her vision being the shadow quickly descending towards her. Her reflex was only to defend, and her eyes shut, her arms shielding her face, and a loud clash of metal was the last sound she was sure that she would ever hear.

But there was another clash, and another. She opened her eyes and two shadows were battling it out in the corners of her eyes. They were far too fast to recognize. She dropped the Kaliana Ann and ran in the direction that she had last seen Dante, to hear a short explosion and debris to fall in her way of passage.

"DANTE, SON OF A BITCH! WHERE DID YOU-"

Gunshots and more metal clanging together. She drew her .45 semi automatic, knowing that in a situation where she was alone, she might be completely useless. The dancing shadows were destroying the surroundings and were impending confrontation. Lady fired shots after them, and as she turned into another wave of falling debris, a hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to the ground.

"It's not wise to run off on your own like that when you don't know what you're dealing with." Noire kept a tight grip on Lady's shirt, pulling her back up and dragging her as they ran past the falling debris and antagonized demons. Dante resurfaced at the end of the block, slightly beaten up and headed for the same direction they were running.

"What exactly are we fucking dealing with DANTE?" Nero and Cade caught up almost immediately, when the immensely large demon materialized for the naked eye to see. There were no words of reaction, only streams of bullets from Ebony and Ivory, followed by Blue Rose and Noire's Sacrement. This proved hardly effective.

"Too few humans to feed on...too few. What do you think you'll be able to do, half-demon spawn?" Dante's hand wrapped around Rebellion's hilt and froze.

Dante froze, his feet solid on the ground and not so much as shaking.

"Get DOWN, NOW!" Noire had loaded a particular magazine into her pistol and fired a headshot, which upon impact resulted in Dante's strange imprisonment breaking and he collapsed to the concrete. There was an exceptionally loud bang followed by a bright flash of light. The devil recoiled and Dante recovered to go after the thing swinging, Rebellion glowing with rage.

"Try to control me, will you? Is that Lucifer's plan? You think you can control Sparda's power, you pathetic piece of shit?" He cut into the mutated being, its green rotted flesh tearing and blood spilling into the cracks of the road beneath them. Nero and Cade pushed the females out of the way and back into another alley. Cade pulled Noire to his chest, grasping her wrist in astonishment.

"You used a Gospel, Noire. You know...that's not always safe. Not like you are now!" The woman's expression softened a little, as Nero tried to understand this strange power that gave her these abilities. It definitely wasn't anything demonic.

"You really are some kind of fucked up...holy woman arent you? What was that? Do your bullets invoke Heaven itself or something?" Lady wrestled from Nero's grasp and pushed the other woman to the ground.

"I dont know what you think you're trying to pull, virgin, but if that had gone wrong you would have blinded Dante and killed us all!"

"No...I dont think you get it, do you? If I had missed, I would have killed Dante and the other demon. I guess you're lucky i'm too experienced for that!"

Noire's ankle was now bruised and swelling slightly. One of the most powerful contributors to the group was also one of the most frail, and the others couldn't get in her way, even to intervene on her behalf. Dante appeared with the sword stashed away in the dirty guitar case again, reaching out to shake Nero's hand and offer thanks before a waterfall of blood covered the wall to his right. He didn't turn to see what it was, but saw the shadow of the same demon finally collapsing next to him.

"You don't have to be such the anti-hero, Vergil. We all know you're a sore-loser who has to get the last word." Dante laughed to himself as a flash of blue emerged from the shadow behind him.

"And you're playing dangerous games, brother. You were always the reckless one, now you're endanger of losing your life by allowing a scion to _help _you. If you're not careful, she'll stab you in the back with that blessed dagger of hers."

The older twin of the identical Sparda boys sheathed his sword, maintaining a defensive stance next to his brother.

"Scion, really? And here I thought you were a bad guy, Noire. You're so good, you're bad."

The woman had already aimed her pistol at Vergil's face, with a stare that would have threatened demons by itself.

"You dont know anything, devil. You cant even begin to comprehend. I'm sure the Dark One would gladly give you more power in exchange for ridding yourself of that human soul and controlling you with it."

"You're ridiculous Scion, you think I'm so reckless as my brother to give into power purely for whatever means? You sure aren't intelligent for being the superior race."

Nero held an arm out to stop the exorcist from firing at someone he figured to be an ally.

"He's Dante's brother, Noire, why would he be our enemy?"  
Vergil's eyes betrayed his stoic expression and his pupils expanded upon sight of the other relative of Sparda. It took him only a moment to comprehend who he was looking at when Dante turned around and held open arms to embrace his brother.

"Welcome back to the party, Vergil. I don't think you would have showed up unless you were having the same problem I was."

"Don't fool yourself, Dante. Where's that homunculus doll of Eva?"

"...Dead and gone, brother. Just like mom, guess that soul just wasn't meant to roam this Earth for long."

Noire tucked away the pistol again and pulled herself up to standing. She pulled away from her bodyguard, stumbling to stand between the twins.

"Her soul was put to rest, Vergil. Would you like to help us ensure that you don't lose your other family members in the process? That some darker force, greater than Agnus, Mundus, and Sanctus together, wants to control your powers and use you for destruction?"

Dante twirled Ebony around his fingers and tossed the faded prayer beads from his pocket off to Nero with his free hand. He spoke with a chuckle in his voice. "He doesn't just have us anymore, you know. He could kill us, but he could still use Nero against you. Or me. Or any of us. That poor kid isn't trained enough to stop himself from being controlled. If I can't do anything about it, he's hopeless."

Nero caught the beads and chucked them right back at Dante's face as he spoke the offending words.

"He wants someone with Sparda's blood then, is that it?" Nero fumed and started cracking his wrists. "I don't know how I'm any relation to you, Dante, but I'm sure as hell not letting the Devil himself get a hold of me."

Vergil stepped back as the younger Sparda approached them. Noire eyed the man's reaction, debating on if she should tell him or wait for his uncle to intervene.

"And you trust the enemy of devils to aid you? Are you really that stupid, the whole lot of you?" Vergil was half scorned by his brother's betrayal in trusting this unknown woman.'

"You know me because your father knew me, right Vergil? You must have been the little boy that spied on the conversation I had with your father all of those years ago. You don't know anything about my agenda, devil. You can't assume that I'll only answer to _my_ father's orders. If you can't tell, I accepted mortality. Heaven's armies are just as distant from me now, as they are to you, human or devil."

"I don't understand what the hell you're talking about, and if you're some kind of enemy waiting to backstab Dante then I'll blow holes through you and your blessed facade!" Lady was still fuming from the confrontation a few moments ago, and seeemed determine to ruin this woman of whatever she was trying to do. She tried to buck up to the smaller woman, trying to push her again with a palm to her chest. Noire lost balance and fell backwards, but instead of hitting concrete, fell into Dante's grasp and never touched the ground.

"You're messing with higher powers than yourself, Lady. You need to show some respect." Nero couldn't believe that the individual parties in this group were really turning on each other when no one really understood what was going on. Noire returned to her feet, resting partially on Dante's shoulder and sighed.

"I am an abandoned Scion of the angels. Saint Michael, in particular." Dante or Vergil didnt even seem fazed, as Cade didn't either. Lady was at a loss for words, and Nero shrugged.

"Supposedly, you're the scion, blessed daughter of Michael, the general of God's armies?" The younger Sparda's willing suspension of disbelief had long gone out the window.

"Right, and you, Nero... you're the Knight Sparda's grandson, by way of your father Vergil." The woman had Yamato at her throat before the sentence had fully escaped her lips, and for the first time, a look of sheer terror had crossed Vergil's face and Dante reacted to restrain his brother.

"That...that man, Vergil...? Dante's brother...I..." Nero pointed and shook his head furiously. "You...my father...YOU left me abandoned at Fortuna Island? You're the bastard?"


End file.
